Joe Root has scored another milestone in his legendary Test career on Saturday, passing Sachin Tendulkar for the most half-centuries in Test cricket. The English batsman has reached his 69th Test fifty in the third Test match against Pakistan at Edgbaston, which is one more than Tendulkar has.
Root remained unbeaten on 62, hitting one six and nine fours, as England chased down 130 to complete an eight-wicket win. Jordan Cox batted excellently well and remained unbeaten on 59 as well as England finished on 130/2 and swept the three-match series 3-0.
Joe Root creates history with another Edgbaston milestone
Joe Root's latest achievement sees him top the list of most half-centuries in Test cricket with a solitary one. West Indies legend Shivnarine Chanderpaul is second with 66, followed by former Australia captain Allan Border and India's Rahul Dravid on 63 each, and former Australia captain Ricky Ponting is sixth with 62.
Most half-centuries in Test cricket:
Joe Root – 69
Sachin Tendulkar – 68
Shivnarine Chanderpaul – 66
Allan Border – 63
Rahul Dravid – 63
Ricky Ponting – 62
Joe Root's remarkable outing at Edgbaston also marked him as the first batsman to score over 1,000 Test runs at the Birmingham venue.
The England star has now passed the 1,000-run mark at four different Test grounds, having amassed 2,203 runs at Lord's, 1,128 in Manchester and 1,050 at The Oval, with his latest landmark coming at Edgbaston.
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Before Joe Root, only two players had scored over 1,000 Test runs at four different venues: South African great Jacques Kallis and former Australia skipper Ponting.
Root's record-breaking knock capped an outstanding Test series for England, who, after winning the opening two matches at Headingley and Lord's, needed only 130 runs in their final innings at Edgbaston to complete a clean sweep.
England lost just two wickets in their chase as Root and Cox saw the hosts over the line with relative ease, with the former scoring an unbeaten 62 to add two further landmarks to his remarkable list of achievements, as England's 3-0 series win over Pakistan underlined their total dominance of the rivals.